Posted (09/10/2013) -
Team Sahlen continued to show good form at the 2013 penultimate event held at Mazda Raceway – Laguna Seca. During Practice, Team Sahlen was at or near the top of the sheets, posting 3rd and 2nd best times. Then in Qualifying, Dane Cameron continued that trend with a fine 3rd place slot on the grid.
At the start of the race, Dane stayed comfortably in 3rd place. Then he slid past eventual winner, the number #10 driven by Max Angelelli. As the race rolled on Dane made a strive for the lead that led to a slight collision. This collision did not significant damage to the #42 machine, but to be cautious, a quick stop for new tires, fuel and driver occurred. This also allowed the crew to blow out the dirt in the radiators as well. In the tight confines of the Daytona Prototype class, such an event puts a competitor far back in the back. This was true for the #42, as the duo of Wayne and Dane fought valiantly to get back on the lead lap. Even once back on the lead lap, they faced and uphill challenge with over 12 competitors still in front of them. A 9th place finish and a fourth fastest race lap was the net result for the day.
The #43 Team Sahlen Daytona Prototype driven by the father and son duo of Joe & Will Nonnamaker had an error free day of driving. An ill-timed yellow placed the #43 machine a lap down, that the duo soon recovered from to get back due to waive around rules. From there, Will drove without incident to a 14th place finish.
“This was not exactly the finish we were looking for. Having qualified in the 3rd slot only 8 hundredths of a second off of pole position, Team Sahlen’s thoughts were thinking that this could be a great way to redeem ourselves for Road America. But instead, while going for the lead, we had the incident. I am proud of the team for their never say die attitude and fighting back to the lead lap and securing 9th place, after going a lap down early on. Now onto Lime Rock, for the last Grand American race ever.” – shared Jay Chapman, Team Sahlen Manager
The 2013 Grand American Rolex Season Finale will be the Grand-Am Championship Weekend presented by BMW Winners ROLEX event will be on September 28th at 1:35 pm. The race will be televised on FoxSports2 live on Saturday and replayed at 12 noon on September 29th on FoxSports1.
GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is supported by:
BMW Motorsports, Dinan Engineering, Design Engineering Inc, Penske Shocks, EMCO Gears, Racing Print Media, Mothers Polish, TheRaceSite.com, PFC Brakes, Classic Motorsports Magazine, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, BBS Wheels, and Hella Lights
